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Updated: Mar 14, 2026

Author Spotlight: Tackling Challenges in Synthetic Cell Engineering
Published on: April 12, 2024
Sequestration of Proteins by Fatty Acid Coacervates for Their Encapsulation within Vesicles
David Garenne1, Laure Beven1, Laurence Navailles2
1UMR 1332, biologie et pathologie du fruit, INRA, centre de Bordeaux, 33883, Villenave O'Ornon, France.
Abstract:
Encapsulating biological materials in lipid vesicles is of interest for mimicking cells; however, except in some particular cases, such processes do not occur spontaneously. Herein, we developed a simple and robust method for encapsulating proteins in fatty acid vesicles in high yields. Fatty acid based, membrane-free coacervates spontaneously sequester proteins and can reversibly form membranous vesicles upon varying the pH value, the precrowding feature in coacervates allowing for protein encapsulation within vesicles. We then produced enzyme-enriched vesicles and show that enzymatic reactions can occur in these micrometric capsules. This work could be of interest in the field of synthetic biology for building microreactors.
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